Seattle rookie has caught fire in contrast to 49ers' Stokes

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, November 19, 1995

In last April's draft, both the Seattle Seahawks and 49ers needed big-play wide receivers to juice up their offenses.

Seattle, drafting No. 8, took Joey Galloway, a 5-foot-11 sprinter from Ohio State. Two picks later, the 49ers took J.J. Stokes, a 6-5 playmaker from UCLA.

Because Seattle's need was greater, Galloway is playing regularly. After 10 games, he's a solid candidate for AFC offensive rookie of the year. He has 39 receptions for 650 yards and four touchdowns and seven rushes for 150 yards and a TD.

Included in the rushing total was an 86-yard touchdown run on a reverse last week against Jacksonville in which Galloway ran right, reversed his field and dashed down the left sideline. He has the longest punt return (89 yards) and the longest run (86 yards) in the league this season.

Even with his success, Galloway is treated like a rookie in Seattle. Twice he's had to buy doughnuts for the veterans and he regularly gets elbowed back in line when players cue up for ankle taping.

"I had doughnut patrol two weeks ago," Galloway said.

"I'm done with doughnuts the rest of my life."

As for Stokes, his season has been one of muted progress. The 49ers had in mind for him a rookie season in which he would learn from Jerry Rice and John Taylor while coming off the bench as the third receiver. Even with this reduced role, Stokes has been slow to develop. He has eight catches for 102 yards and no touchdowns.

Stokes might get his first start Monday night in Miami, or at least greater playing time, after taking most of the plays in practice while Taylor rested a sore left hamstring.

Battle of Clark Kents&lt;

Defensive end Alfred Williams of the 49ers won't have a chance to play against Dolphins tackle Ron Heller on Monday night because he's on injured reserve with two bad knees. Williams will miss the encounter.

"You want to play against somebody like Heller because he elevates your game every week," Williams said. "It's like a phone booth fight with Heller."

A phone booth fight?

"No dodging punches."

S.F. to N.Y., round trip&lt;

Kick returner Dexter Carter got his greatest return last week when the 49ers picked him up after the Jets waived him. San Francisco's No. 1 draft pick from 1990 has been reluctant to rip the 2-8 Jets since his arrival.

"I'm not saying anything against the Jets organization," he said. "They did me a favor."

If he plays in each of the 49ers' final six games, Carter will be the only player in the league this season to appear in 17 games - 10 with the Jets and seven with his old new team.

Dallas coach Barry Switzer caused a fuss last year when he left his team on Saturday night to go watch his son Doug, a quarterback, play for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. This week, Switzer noted his son had a big game against old "William Morris."

No sacks appeal&lt;

Leslie O'Neal of the San Diego Chargers is one of the league's most accomplished sackers of quarterbacks. He recorded his 100th last week. But a look at the more eventful sacks in his 10-year career is hardly encouraging stuff. Here's O'Neal:

"Looking back, the first sack I got we lost the game. The biggest number of sacks I've ever had in a game (five), we lost that game. And my 100th, we lost that one."

The lesson for O'Neal is to just say no to sacks.

Oh, those fans&lt;

Here's another use for duct tape:

Last Sunday at Casey's Cabin Tavern on Illinois Hwy. 173 near the Wisconsin border, several Bears fans took exception to a Packers fan who was gloating at Green Bay's win over Chicago. So the Bears fans forcibly removed the enemy from the tavern and duct-taped him to a stop sign, with a "Packers Fan" placard above his head.

When police came, the unidentified man declined to press charges.

Out there in God's Country&lt;

The Bears are considering a proposal from northern Indiana to move the team to a massive entertainment and sports complex to be built in lovely Gary. As reported in the Chicago Tribune, the proposed site is 26.4 miles from Soldier Field, adjacent to a Superfund clean-up site and 57 petroleum storage tanks. It's an industrial wasteland of the highest order.

Across the street from this miasma is Truck City, where a mechanic hung a sign saying "Move the Bears to Gary, Murder Capital USA, or we'll kill you."

Not looking for No. 100&lt;

Dan Reeves' career record is 141-99-1. With his next loss he'll become the 14th NFL coach to lose at least 100 games.

"I never thought I'd stay in the game long enough to lose 100," Reeves said.

More depressing to Reeves is the 3-7 record of his Giants, which has caused him much dismay.

"You feel like somebody took a knife and just kind of ripped you open," he said. "You take a knife and somebody just kind of cuts your gut open."

Moe's the better&lt;

Members of the Moe Elewonibi Fan Club, despair not. Your man has been sighted on the waiver wire, picked up by Philadelphia after Washington released him. For those not in the Moe, Elewonibi was born in Nigeria, raised in Canada and learned American football at BYU.

Fumblin' stumblin'&lt;

Rex Ryan, son of Buddy and the Cardinals' linebackers coach, lost 55 pounds (from 305) on an unusual diet. He gorges on the weekend, then eats one large meal a day at lunch during the week. "The key is, I go exercise at night, and I burn everything, and I've been losing weight," he said. If it works, eat it. . . . Since his arrest for spousal abuse, Minnesota QB Warren Moon has family counseling twice a week. "Things have calmed down and that's helped," he said. "When I'm out on the field, it's a place where I have serenity." . . . Norv Turner is 6-20 as head coach at Washington. . . . During games, Dallas offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese always holds three ink pens in his right hand and twirls them counter-clockwise until the lettering on the sides of the pens wears off. "I'm just a nervous person, I guess," Zampese said. . . . No Kansas City team has ever started the season 10-1. . . . Chiefs RB Marcus Allen moved into third place on the NFL's career total yardage list with 15,502. He might be able to catch second-place Tony Dorsett (16,326). . . . Former Stanford stalwart Justin Armour has 14 catches as a rookie with Buffalo. . . . Bills LB Bryce Paup has 13 sacks in 10 games and is on pace for 21. That would be one fewer than Mark Gastineau's single-season record from 1984. Sack stats have only been kept since 1982, however. . . . How important is rookie RB Curtis Martin to the Patriots? They are 4-0 when he rushes for 100 yards and 0-6 when he does not.&lt;